Vietnam tourist boat accident death toll rises to 38 in Halong Bay
Rescue efforts continue as authorities brace for the impact of Typhoon Wipha.
The boat, carrying 48 tourists and five crew members, capsized on Saturday afternoon in one of the worst maritime accidents in recent years in the popular tourist destination.
'At least 38 of those on board have been confirmed dead and 10 rescued,' the government said in a statement.
All the tourists were Vietnamese, including several children, as reported by the official Vietnam News Agency.
Rescue teams, comprising border guards, navy personnel, police, and professional divers, have been deployed despite challenging weather conditions.
Although the sea has calmed, poor visibility has hindered search operations.
The sunken vessel has been retrieved, authorities confirmed. The accident occurred around 2 p.m. local time on Saturday, shortly after Typhoon Wipha entered the South China Sea.
Strong winds, heavy rain, and lightning were reported at the time, though officials clarified these conditions were unrelated to the typhoon but resulted from regional wind patterns.
Halong Bay, located about 200 km northeast of Hanoi, is a major tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands annually for its scenic boat tours.
In 2011, a similar incident claimed 12 lives, including foreign tourists.
Typhoon Wipha, the third storm to enter the South China Sea this year, is expected to make landfall along Vietnam's northern coast early next week. - Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 minutes ago
- The Star
Some 280,000 people homeless as more weather chaos hits Philippines
A woman carrying a baby wading through a flooded area in Manila North Road following heavy rains brought by Typhoon Co-may in Minalin, Pampanga in the Philippines on July 25, 2025. - Reuters MANILA: After days of monsoon rains and flooding in the Philippines, tropical storm Co-may further exacerbated the situation in the north of the country on Friday (July 25). At least 30 landslides occurred in the city of Baguio, authorities there said. According to official reports, at least 25 people have died across the country since the heavy rains began about a week ago. Many of the victims drowned or were trapped under trees or debris. A total of about three million people have been affected by the flooding, and around 280,000 are now homeless. More than 24,000 schools were closed on Friday, the Philippine news channel ABS-CBN reported. School buildings served as evacuation centres in 10 regions of the island nation. Tropical storm Wipha had previously caused chaos in the Philippines and other parts of South-East Asia in mid-July.
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Montreal over Miami: Patriotic Canadians change summer vacation plans
TORONTO (Reuters) -Canadians are trading their annual vacation south of the border for road trips around Ottawa, the midnight sun in Yukon, whale watching in Nova Scotia or hiking in Banff. The newfound desire to stay local started earlier this year when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to annex Canada and imposed a series of tariffs on Canadian goods, spurring a 'Buy Canadian' movement to boycott U.S. businesses and avoid traveling to the U.S. London, Ontario-based Guess Where Trips sells curated mystery road trip packages in four Canadian provinces and reported a 75% increase in sales of trips across the country so far this year from a year ago. "It is clear that more Canadians are choosing to explore small businesses and hidden gems close to home, rather than crossing the border for their holidays and vacations," operations manager Jessica Bax said. Road trips around Ottawa are among their most popular packages, Bax said, as more Canadians explore their capital city. Prime Minister Mark Carney has also made a pitch for Canadians to take advantage of a new "Canada Strong" pass that grants free or discounted access to several national parks, historic sites and museums this summer. "Canadians are making choices to visit this great country, spend time here with their family, with their friends. They're making choices to buy Canadian products," he said in a press briefing in Huntsville, Ontario on Tuesday. The discount pass contrasts with Trump ordering higher entrance fees at U.S. national parks for visitors from other countries. A Bank of Canada survey this week showed that 55% of Canadians plan to spend less money vacationing in the United States this year while 35% said they would spend more on traveling within Canada. A survey by TD Bank showed 64% of Canadians polled planned to travel within the country, mirroring an increase in domestic flight bookings. Canadian domestic tourism spending rose 4% in the first quarter this year from a year earlier, said Destination Canada, a government agency that promotes Canadian tourism. The number of flight return trips from the United States made by Canadians fell 17% in May from a year earlier, while the number of such trips made by car fell by 37% that month, according to Statistics Canada. Walter Flower, who operates whale watching tours in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, said he has been busier this year as more people exploring the UNESCO World Heritage town booked a 45-minute ocean adventure hoping to spot whales off the east coast. Divya Mohan, a communications specialist in Toronto, says she had initially planned to go to Texas this year but instead opted to explore the city of Winnipeg in Manitoba. "It just felt like the timing wasn't right... may be in the future," Mohan, 39, said of her trip in April. "Winnipeg is just one more destination in Canada to explore," Mohan said, coming away impressed with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. On the west coast in British Columbia, RVs have gained popularity, said Storm Jespersen, a regional manager at family-owned tourism firm Evergreen Hospitality Group. "This year is going to be the busiest year in our company's history across our 26 properties... it's so busy, I don't think you can even rent one (RV) very easily right now," said Jespersen. WORTH THE BUCK Traveling in Canada can be expensive as domestic flights to remote locations often cost more than traveling to the United States or even Europe. But travelers have found ways to do it cheaper - through road trips or by hunting for discounts. "Doing road trips or just weekend trips to a cabin nearby is a great way to switch things up without spending thousands of dollars to fly a family of four across the country and back," said Vancouver-based marketing executive Kramer Solinsky. On his list this year, Solinsky plans to visit Montreal and the east coast for the first time and is traveling to Mexico City and Osaka in Japan instead of other sun-soaked options like Florida and California. To make some remote regions in northern Canada more accessible, Air North - the airline for the northern provinces of Yukon and Northwest Territories - added more capacity and non-stop routes for the summer, betting on higher demand from what it said was "clear and growing interest among Canadians in exploring more of their own country" Air North said arrivals to Yukon rose 7.6% from January to June this year and the airline continues to see growth in demand for flights to northern Canada. Other Canadian carriers have reported similar trends: Porter Airlines increased its summer network capacity to domestic travel to 80% from 75%, while peer WestJet in May suspended nine routes between Canada and the United States citing lower demand. (Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Additional reporting by Promit Mukherjee in Ottawa; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Deepa Babington)
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Trump visits Scotland for golf and talks amid Epstein controversy
EDINBURGH/LONDON: U.S. President Donald Trump, dogged by questions about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, heads to Scotland on Friday for a trip that will mix golf with politics mostly out of the public view. Trump plans to visit his golf resort in Turnberry on Scotland's east coast, where he will meet on Monday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, before heading to his sprawling golf property 200 miles away near Aberdeen on the west coast. As part of the visit, he will open a second 18-hole course on the Aberdeen property named in honor of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to America. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt this week said the trip was intended as a 'working visit that will include a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Starmer to refine the historic U.S.-U.K. trade deal.' The overseas travel comes as Trump faces the biggest domestic political crisis of his second term in office. Allies and opponents alike have criticized his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and the circumstances of his 2019 death in prison. The issue has caused a rare breach with some of Trump's most loyal Make America Great Again supporters, and majorities of Americans and Trump's Republicans say they believe the government is hiding details on the case, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. White House officials, frustrated by the ongoing focus on the Epstein saga, are hoping the controversy dies down while Trump is abroad, one person familiar with the matter said. DEEPEN TIES The trip, initially billed as a private visit, gives Trump and Starmer a chance to deepen their already warm relationship, with key issues on the agenda to include ending Russia's war in Ukraine, UK and U.S. sources said. British officials have been heartened by what they see as a clear shift in Trump's rhetoric on Ukraine and Russia in recent weeks, a UK source said. Since being elected last year, Starmer has prioritized good relations with Trump, stressing the importance of Britain's defense and security alliance with the U.S. and being careful to avoid openly criticizing Trump's tariff policies. That approach helped Britain seal the first tariff-reduction deal with the U.S. in May, which reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the U.K. aerospace sector, but left steel tariffs in place. Tariffs will likely come up, but sources close to the matter said it was unclear if any breakthrough could be achieved. Trump also is expected to meet with Scottish leader John Swinney, who publicly backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, but no details have been released by either side. Trump has described Scotland as a 'very special place' and made a similar trip there in 2016 during his first run for the presidency, but he won't necessarily receive a warm welcome. About 70% of Scots have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 18% have a favorable opinion of him, an Ipsos poll in March found. Scottish police are girding for protests on Saturday in both Aberdeen and in Edinburgh, the country's capital. Trump will return to Britain from September 17-19 for a state visit hosted by King Charles. It will make Trump the first world leader in modern times to undertake two state visits to Britain. The late Queen Elizabeth hosted him at Buckingham Palace for a three-day state visit in June 2019. - Reuters
